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End of the Babylonian Captivity

1

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared:

2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.3Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem;4and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

5 The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.6All their neighbors aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered.7King Cyrus himself brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.8King Cyrus of Persia had them released into the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.9And this was the inventory: gold basins, thirty; silver basins, one thousand; knives, twenty-nine;10gold bowls, thirty; other silver bowls, four hundred ten; other vessels, one thousand;11the total of the gold and silver vessels was five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1. in the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia—The Persian empire, including Persia, Media,
Babylonia, and Chaldea, with many smaller dependencies, was founded by
Cyrus, 536 B.C. [Hales].

that the word of the Lord by the mouth of
Jeremiah might be fulfilled—(See Jer 25:12;
29:10). This reference is a
parenthetic statement of the historian, and did not form part of the
proclamation.

2. The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the
kingdoms of the earth—Though this is in the Oriental style of
hyperbole (see also Da 4:1), it
was literally true that the Persian empire was the greatest ruling
power in the world at that time.

he hath charged me to build him an house at
Jerusalem—The phraseology of this proclamation, independently
of the express testimony of Josephus,
affords indisputable evidence that Cyrus had seen (probably through
means of Daniel, his venerable prime minister and favorite) those
prophecies in which, two hundred years before he was born, his name,
his victorious career, and the important services he should render to
the Jews were distinctly foretold (Isa 44:28; 46:1-4). The existence of predictions so
remarkable led him to acknowledge that all his kingdoms were gifts
bestowed on him by "the Lord God of heaven," and prompted him to fulfil
the duty which had been laid upon him long before his birth. This was
the source and origin of the great favor he showed to the Jews. The
proclamation, though issued "in the first year of Cyrus" [Ezr 1:1], did not take effect till the year
following.

3. Who is there among you of all his
people—The purport of the edict was to grant full permission
to those Jewish exiles, in every part of his kingdom, who chose, to
return to their own country, as well as to recommend those of their
countrymen who remained to aid the poor and feeble on their way, and
contribute liberally towards the rebuilding of the temple.

5, 6. Then rose up the chief of the fathers,
&c.—The paternal and ecclesiastical chiefs of the later
captivity, those of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with some also
from other tribes (1Ch 9:3), who
retained their attachment to the pure worship of God, naturally took
the lead in this movement. Their example was followed by all whose
piety and patriotism were strong enough to brave the various
discouragements attending the enterprise. They were liberally assisted
by multitudes of their captive countrymen, who, born in Babylonia or
comfortably established in it by family connections or the possession
of property, chose to remain. It seems that their Assyrian friends and
neighbors, too, either from a favorable disposition toward the Jewish
faith, or from imitation of the court policy, displayed hearty good
will and great liberality in aiding and promoting the views of the
emigrants.

7. Cyrus … brought forth the vessels of the
house of the Lord—Though it is said (2Ki 24:13) that these were cut in pieces,
that would not be done to the large and magnificent vases; and, if they
had been divided, the parts could be reunited. But it may be doubted
whether the Hebrew word rendered cut in pieces, does not
signify merely cut off, that is, from further use in the
temple.

8. Shesh-bazzar, the prince of
Judah—that is, Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel (compare Ezr 3:8;
5:16). He was born in
Babylon, and called by his family Zerubbabel, that is, stranger or
exile in Babylon. Shesh-bazzar, signifying "fire-worshipper," was the
name given him at court, as other names were given to Daniel and his
friends. He was recognized among the exiles as hereditary prince of
Judah.

11. All the vessels of gold and of silver were
five thousand and four hundred—The vessels here specified
amount only to the number of 2499. Hence it is probable that the larger
vases only are mentioned, while the inventory of the whole, including
great and small, came to the gross sum stated in the text.

them of the captivity that were brought up from
Babylon unto Jerusalem—All the Jewish exiles did not embrace
the privilege which the Persian king granted them. The great
proportion, born in Babylon, preferred continuing in their comfortable
homes to undertaking a distant, expensive, and hazardous journey to a
desolate land. Nor did the returning exiles all go at once. The first
band went with Zerubbabel, others afterwards with Ezra, and a large
number with Nehemiah at a still later period.